How had she reached this point in her life? Her mind traveled to the kinder days when she lived in a small cottage with her sister, her mother, and her father. Most of her time had been spent assisting her mother sewing and cooking while her sire left to hunt for the day. She’d loved every minute of the occasions when she and her sister had spent all day with the loving woman. She and Meg had learned how to cook, how to sew, and how to care for plants.
But the times with her father were not fond memories. An unhappy person by nature, she and her sister dreaded when her father would come home without any food, thus giving his hands and fists free range to swing and land on anything within his reach.
Tamsin preferred to go outside, even in the cold.
She’d thought married life would be an improvement, but she’d been wrong.
It seems the female lot in life was to serve as a way for men to deal with their anger and disappointment. They were to wait on them night and day, give in to all their needs, and then be there for them to take out their frustrations. Why did men hit so hard?
She hadn’t learned how to handle her own frustration except to ignore it and pretend it didn’t exist.
So, when she slipped and fell again, her head going completely underwater, she sputtered and fought to keep her head high enough so she could keep an eye on the vessel that could save her.
Unfortunately, the worst thing possible happened next. The vessel turned around and headed back to the Isle of Mull.
“Nay!” she cried out, knowing whatever she said didn’t matter. It hadn’t mattered to her father and now it didn’t matter to her husband. She was doomed and it was time to accept it quietly. Perhaps heaven would be a better place for her.
Chapter Six
Thane
Thane’s boat was nearly halfway to the outcroppings when he heard a loud splash from behind him. He spun around and cursed as loudly as he could. “Mora, horse’s bollocks, but could you not do what you are told, for once?”
His sister dove beneath the water like a fine mermaid, then when she broke the surface, she tipped her head back and spewed a long fountain of water from her mouth.
“Shall we turn around, Thane?” Artan asked.
“If we do, the lass on the rocks will surely drown. She cannot stand on her own in the water,” Brian said, pointing to her as she slipped and fell underwater again, arms and legs flailing until she got her head back above the surface.
“Mora can swim just fine,” Artan said. “The lass cannot.”
“Aye, but I do not believe Mora could swim all the way to the outcroppings.” Thane turned to look at his sister, then at the lass sputtering behind him. There was plenty of time to get to Mora before the lass would fall victim to the tide. He heard another splash and spun around just in time to see her flail again. And what if she fell off the rock? Surely, he would watch her drown before they could reach her.
He glanced at his sister and her solid strokes, then stared at the lass on the rocks.
“She’s no relation to us,” Brian muttered. “We have to get Mora first. You know it’s our duty.”
Thane nodded, knowing his brother was right. He had to choose.
“You are chieftain. You make the choice,” Artan said.
Thane knew both men were right. He had to deal with his conscience. “Turn the boat around, pick up Mora, then come back for me.”
“You? Where are you going?” Artan asked just as Thane dropped his weapon on the hull of the boat, removed his tunic, belt, and boots, and dove into the water.
Once he surfaced, he hollered back at them, “I’ll keep her head above water.”
Artan turned the boat around, and Mora yelled at Brian, “Hurry up. It’s colder than I thought. I felt a fish on my feet, and I think it might bite me, and I want to go home.”
“Then mayhap you should not have jumped in.”
“Or mayhap you should have let me ride with you,” she shouted, treading water and spitting toward Brian.
Thane grinned but held his chuckle inside, focusing his attention on the lass in front of him. She noticed the boat had turned around; he could see it in her countenance. “I’m coming to help you,” he called out to her.
She didn’t see him. Despite still being five or six boat lengths away from her, he could detect the panic in her eyes. “I’m here! Here! I’ll not leave you.”
Her gaze finally caught him, and relief covered her face. The closer he came to her, the more he realized something that he hadn’t given a thought to before.
